Although I hate being cold and because of that Winter is not my favorite season, I do love seeing the birds that come to eat at our bird feeders. With the snow on the ground and on the trees it makes the birds look so much more colorful.
Sometime I can't recognize a bird so I turn to my handy dandy National Audubon North American Birds field guide, Eastern Region. There is also one for Western Regions. I have several of these books and they are great when you want to quickly identify a bird, flower, bug, or other critter you are looking at. Each book is on a different topic. The one I am using right now is for birds. You can get them at Amazon.com
The first bird is the Downy Woodpecker. I had no idea that is what this bird was until I read it in the book. The male has the red color on his head.
From the Field Guide:
"A sparrow-sized woodpecker. Black and white, with small red patch on nape in males. Similar to Hairy Woodpecker, but smaller and with short stubbly bill...This is the smallest, tamest, and most abundant of our eastern woodpeckers. It comes readily to suet feeders in suburban yards and is a familiar sight in city parks and roadside shade trees and shrubbery. It is often seen in the mixed flocks of chickadees, nuthatches, creepers, and kinglets that gather in the woods during migration and winter."
more to come
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